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Oh, I thought this thread was going to be about how the Goodies rule, OK?

This has the added bonus of a young Jimmy Stewart, which is a decidedly good thing.

Seconded on Father Goose.

Also, The Philadelphia Story - another funny and romantic win - this one Cary Grant and Kate Hepburn (with a little JJJ-Jimmy Stewart thrown in for good measure).

To Catch a Thief - Intrigue on the French Riviera with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.

Lawrence of Arabia and Patton make the top of my war movie list.

The Searchers is my favorite western from the pre-Eastwood (and pre-lunchstealer) era. John Wayne plays his character's obsession as dark as I've ever seen him.

His Girl Friday - Apparently I'm all about the Cary Grant movies.

Edited for italics and to acknowledge the intermediate posts about The Philadelphia Story.

I concur on Father Goose. In fact, I think I'll add it to the Netflix queue. Though God knows when I'll get to it. It'll be Number 495 or thereabouts.

And I respectfully submit Some Like it Hot for consideration.

I'll second Planet of the Apes and add a trio of Bogart movies The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and The Big Sleep.

Also, Dr. Strangelove, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, and The Mark of Zorro (the Tyrone Power version).

You'll never see Angela Lansbury the same way again.

Dr. Strangelove, definitely. I was around a wheelchair the other day, and I so badly wanted to sit down in it, then stand up and shriek "MEIN FUEHRER! I CAN VALK!"

Let us not forget the Marx Brothers, too.
Ooh, and Metropolis! And M!

seconds is pretty cool.

Another Strangelove quote

Some Like It Hot
Rear Window
Casablanca
A Night at the Opera (Only Marx Brothers I've seen; my then-girlfriend told me it was the best one).

Danny Kaye! Now there is an under appreciated talant. You simply must see The Five Pennies if only for the first ten minutes to see Danny Kaye and Louis Armstrong lay down When the Saints go Marching in.

Casablanca (Why didn't it get mentioned until halfway down the thread?)
Arsenic and Old Lace
Citizen Kane
The Third Man
North by Northwest
The Inspector General(Seconding)

And a warhorse that everyone but me seems to hate

Gone With the Wind

OOPS! Almost forgot:

Shenandoah (Great libertarian film with Jimmy Stewart.)

EDIT: And a Jimmy Stewart/John Wayne classic:

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Sunset Blvd.

Some Edward G. Robinson features:

Double Indemnity
Scarlet Street

I don't suppose anyone but me would consider these classics, but they are of special personal nostalgic significance to me:

Duel, with Dennis Weaver (1971, invoking the pre-smacky rule) (even though this was only a TV movie)

War of the Worlds (1950s original)

When Worlds Collide

-------------------

Oh, and of course -- a legitimate classic here:

King Kong (original)

The 1960s:

Never On Sunday
Ocean’s 11 (the original, and the original Rat Pack movie)
BUtterfield 8 (great Liz Taylor performance in great John O’Hara adaptation)
Breakfast At Tiffany’s
The Children’s Hour
The Hustler (Newman’s finest performance)
West Side Story
Days of Wine And Roses
Dr. No
Gypsy (speaking of strippers)
Lawrence of Arabia (no female speaking parts!)
The Manchurian Candidate
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Requiem for a Heavyweight
To Kill A Mockingbird
Captain Newman, M.D.
Donovan’s Reef
From Russia With Love
The Great Escape
Hud
Lilies of the Field
The Americanization of Emily
Becket
Dr. Strangelove
Fail-Safe
A Fistful of Dollars
My Fair Lady
Robin and the 7 Hoods (the other great Rat Pack movie)
Cat Ballou
Doctor Zhivago
Alfie (the Michael Caine original)
Georgy Girl
The Sand Pebbles
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Bonnie and Clyde
The Dirty Dozen
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
The Graduate
In Cold Blood
In The Heat of the Night
To Sir, With Love
Wait Until Dark
2001: A Space Odyssey
Charly (film version of "Flowers for Algernon")
The Lion in Winter
The Odd Couple
The Producers
Romeo and Juliet (the Zeffirelli version is still the best)
Rosemary’s Baby (Polanski redefines the horror film)
The Thomas Crown Affair (sexy chess!)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Easy Rider
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (Peter O’Toole sings! Well, almost.)
Midnight Cowboy
Support Your Local Sheriff
Take the Money And Run (Woody Allen used to be funny!)

I think I’ll stop there and apologize for running on and on except to say regarding the 70s that I think Chinatown is just about the best picture ever made. For me, it’s up there with The Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, Casablanca and any other all-time favorite you can think of. If you’ve never seen it, please do. It’s nearly perfect.

D.A.
I'm guessing someone held a gun to your head causing you to omit a few Kubrick films that should have topped the list:
70's
A Clockwork Orange
60's
Sparticus
50's
Paths of Glory

Add these and your list is pretty close to definitive.

Chaplin's The Great Dictator

The SF classic Forbidden Planet (Really Shakespeare's The Tempest set in space.)

Ran Continuing in the Shakespeare vein, the best version of King Lear ever produced.

Roshomon
The Magnificent Seven* *These two are linked due to Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai being the model for the latter.

Persona

This thread made me feel nostalgic... for Egyptian oldies. Did a little youtubing, and thought this may interest some of you. The title is "Tribute to our oldies Egyptian Beautiful Women"

Ditto all the greats already listed, it is hard to think of any not already listed, but one no one has mentioned so far that I recommend is Touch of Evil.

A couple of years ago I finally made myself sit down and watch the Apu trilogy, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think Alexander Nevsky is great, but I saw it in a more academic setting so I don´t know if it is enjoyable just as a movie. Fantastic music of course, but also a masterful example of propoganda.

Someone must have put a gun to your head and forced you to omit Barry Lyndon! Fantastic period movie.

I just saw Breaking Away (1979, so it qualifies as an oldie under the smacky rule) on TV and was reminded of what a neat little movie that was. Although again, I may be biased by personal nostalgic affection.

But I never get tired of watching it, which in my mind is one of the marks of a classic.

Cool Hand Luke.

Bobaloogats! We got a bet here!

I used to work with a guy (graphic designer) who worked late a lot. At one point he got into this routine where, after most of the office went home, he would pop Cool Hand Luke into this video-player-monitor thing he had on his desk, and watch it while he worked. For about 50 nights in a row.

During that time, I and a couple other guys who also tended to work late came to accumulate an assortment of Cool Hand Luke catchphrases that we would basically inject into conversations at random. I can eat fifty eggs.

At the back of my mind, I worried a little that this co-worker friend of mine was a little too obsessed with a movie about sweaty shirtless convict guys, but for the most part I really didn't pay it much mind. I'm shakin' it, boss!